Episode 1: Visitor

There is a doctor who can compound medicine capable of curing all illnesses.

His name is Glow.

A man who bears the same name as the Firefly Bewitching Grass—Glow—the ingredient used to make the panacea.

People go to him expecting he must be a dignified, gallant man, but when they see a figure that can only be described as a quack, they are left speechless.

“You’re Glow…”

“Yeah, that’s right. Got a problem with it?”

At the young man’s single remark—his long hair tied up carelessly, unshaven stubble on his face—the hopes of the girl who had come with her heart racing were shattered.

Of course there couldn’t be some doctor with a beautiful face like a noble prince, and yet, for some reason, and yet for some reason everyone seems to have convinced themselves that Glow must look like that.

“What, you too came here thinking I’m some handsome pretty-boy? Hah, too bad for you. Go on, get out.”

Sneered at through his nose by Glow, the girl finally returned to reality.

“N-no, that’s not what I meant at all. My name is Cosette. I came today because I wanted you to cure my illness.”

“What is it?”

“Lovesickness.”

“……”

Glow stared at Cosette for several seconds as if he were looking at a weirdo.

“You… said you could compound medicine that works on all diseases…”

“That sort of thing heals on its own. Lovesickness is a disease? Save your jokes for a comedy.”

“You said you cure all illnesses, that’s why I came! Every day, whenever I think of the one I love, my chest grows hot, and I can barely get any food down my throat…”

“And despite that, you came here thinking I might be a handsome pretty boy? A cheap lovesick act like that— even a starving stray dog wouldn’t eat it.”

“……”

Pure-hearted and brimming with a sense of justice, never abandoning those in need.

No one knows who spread such talk, but the people who come here expecting that always meet him in person and end up in despair.

As Cosette stood there, unable to say anything at all, the door suddenly opened and a woman dressed flamboyantly appeared.

“Oh, another pitiful patient’s here. You’re an idiot too, huh—believing rumors and coming to a quack like this.”

Laughing lightly, the woman patted Glow on the shoulder.

“W-who are you?”

Annoyed at being mocked, Cosette asked in a sharp voice.

“I’m Letia. A prostitute.”

“And what’s a prostitute doing here? Did another customer run away after seeing that gaudy face of yours?”

Glow said that and looked Letia in the face.

“It’s like a wall plastered over in white.”

Letia’s face twitched.

“Yeah, yeah, sorry about that, you quack! I went out of my way to bring you a patient who’s different from the usual ones.”

“A patient who’s different…?”

Glow narrowed his eyes.

Letia’s presence was so overpowering he hadn’t noticed, but a small boy was standing by the door.

“This kid…”

Glow looked at the boy and lost his words.

A snake was coiled around the boy’s arm.

Worse, that snake was transforming its body into part of the arm itself.

Yes—almost as if a snake’s head were protruding from the boy’s arm.

“This child’s been bitten by a snake!”

As Cosette tried to brush the snake away, Glow stopped her.

“Don’t. It’s useless to try to get it off. It’s already part of his body.”

“Huh?”

Cosette stared at the boy in shock. The boy, eyes lowered, looked up at Glow.

“That’s right. What’s wrapped around my body is a parasitic snake called Secours…”